on this day, october 7th.
3761 BC - The epoch (origin) of the modern Hebrew calendar.
336 - Pope Mark dies, leaving the papacy vacant.
1492 - Christopher Columbus misses Florida when he changes course.
1506 - Pope Julius II and France occupy Bologna.
1513 - Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeat the Venetians.
1520 - First public burning of books in Flanders, in Leuven.
1542 - Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina Island off California coast.
1571 - The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroys the Turkish fleet.
1582 - Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1637 - Prince Frederick Henry of Orange occupies Breda.
1690 - English attack Quebec under Louis de Buade.
1702 - English/Dutch troops under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough occupy Roermond.
1714 - Beer tax riots in Alkmaar, the Netherlands.
1737 - 40 foot waves sink 20,000 small craft and kill 300,000 (Bengal, India).
1763 - George III of Great Britain issues British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.
1765 - Stamp Act Congress convenes in NY.
1769 - English explorer, Captain Cook, sails to New Zealand.
1776 - Crown Prince Paul of Russia marries Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
1777 - American Revolutionary War: Americans beat the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.
1780 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.
1806 - Carbon paper patented in London by inventor Ralph Wedgewood.
1816 - The first double-decked steamboat, the "Washington," arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana.
1825 - Miramichi Fire, disaster in New Brunswick
1826 - Granite Railway (first chartered railway in the U.S.) begins operations.
1828 - The city of Patras, Greece is liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.
1840 - Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands.
1849 - Edgar Allan Poe dies at 5:00 A.M. four days after being found in a Baltimore gutter.
1864 - Battle of Darbytown Road (American Civil War): the Confederate forces' attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.
1864 - American Civil War: Capture of the C.S.S. "Florida" - Union Warship captures the U.S.S. "Wachusett" - Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.
1865 - The Morant Bay Rebellion starts in Jamaica.
1868 - Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the most at any American university to that date.
1870 - Leon Gambetta flees Paris in a balloon.
1879 - Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance.
1882 - Baseball: In Game 2 of the first exhibiton series between the Champions of the National League and the American Association, Chicago (NL) beats Cincinnati (AA) 2-0.
1886 - Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba.
1900 - The term "orienteering" is first used for an event.
1904 - Baseball: New York Highlander Jack Chesbro wins record 41st game of season (41-12).
1907 - France's Henry Farman flies 30 m in a biplane.
1908 - Crete revolts against the Ottoman Empire and aligns with Greece.
1908 - Serbia and Montenegro sign anti-Austria-Hungarian pact.
1912 - The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction.
1916 - Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222-0 in the most lopsided victory in American college football.
1919 - KLM of the Netherlands was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.
1919 - First London-Amsterdam airline service (Britain Aerial Transport and KLM).
1922 - Former mayor of Rotterdam Alfred Zimmerman is appointed to represent The Netherlands in the League of Nations.
1922 - First radio link, WNJ (Newark, New Jersey) and WGY (Schenectady) link for World Series.
1924 - Greek government of Dikalekopoulis forms.
1928 - Ras Tafari Makonnen crowned negus of Abyssinia by Empress Zauditu.
1929 - Ramsay MacDonald is the first British premier to address the U.S. Congress.
1931 - First infrared photograph, Rochester, New York.
1938 - Germany demands all Jewish passports stamped with the letter J.
1940 - World War II: Germany invades Romania.
1940 - World War II: the McCollum memo proposes bringing the U.S. into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.
1941 - World War II: German army occupies Viazma, U.S.S.R.
1941 - John Curtin becomes the 14th Prime Minister of Australia
1942 - U.S. and British government announce establishment of United Nations.
1942 - World War II: A salvo of Katyusha rockets destroys a German battalion in Stalingrad.
1942 - The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins as United States Marine Corps forces attack Imperial Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.
1943 - World War II: Japan executes 100 American civilian prisoners on Wake Island.
1944 - World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp.
1944 - World War II: Uprising at Auschwitz, Jews burn down crematoria.
1944 - World War II: Fieldmarshal Erwin Rommel ordered to return to Berlin.
1944 - World War II: Allies bombs sea dikes at Vlissingen.
1949 - German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.
1949 - One of the earliest television shows, "Ford Theater" debuts
1950 - Annexation of Tibet by China.
1950 - United States forces cross the 38th parallel.
1951 - Malayan Emergency: Malayan Races Liberation Army (MRLA) ambushes and kills British High Commissioner Sir Henry Gurney.
1951 - David Ben-Gurion forms Israeli government.
1952 - "American Bandstand" debuts on a local Philadelphia station.
1955 - Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.
1958 - President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspends the 1956 constitution, imposes martial law, and cancels the elections scheduled for January 1959.
1958 - U.S. manned space-flight project renamed Project Mercury.
1959 - U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the Far side of the Moon.
1960 - Second Kennedy and Nixon debate Cold War foreign policy in the second of four scheduled debates.
1962 - U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, U.S.S.R.
1963 - John F. Kennedy signs ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.
1963 - Hurricane Flora hits Haiti and Dominican Republic, kills 7,190.
1968 - Hollywood adopts the movie ratings system.
1970 - Richard Nixon announces a new five-point peace proposal to end the Vietnam War.
1975 - Gerald R. Ford signs a legislation allowing women to apply for admission to the U.S. military academies, effective in 1976.
1977 - The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.
1982 - Cats opens on Broadway and runs for nearly 18 years before closing on September 10, 2000.
1985 - The "Achille Lauro" is hijacked by Palestinian terrorists.
1988 - New York City radio station WNBC goes off the air at AM 660 and is replaced by sports station WFAN which was at 1050 AM before the switch.
1996 - The Fox News Channel, an American cable news network, is launched.
1997 - YUM! Brands, Inc. is founded (then as Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc.) when Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell spin-off from PepsiCo.
1998 - Gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten by two young adults in Laramie, Wyoming.
2000 - The last ever competitive match at Wembley Stadium is a 1-0 defeat of England to Germany and the last goal was scored by Liverpool's Dietmar Hammann. The match was Tony Adams' 60th at Wembley setting the record for most appearances at the stadium.
2001 - The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan starts with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.
2001 - British national railway infrastructure company Railtrack put into railway administration in controversial circumstances.
2002 - Maher Arar is deported by the US government to Syria, where he is tortured and held without charge for a year before being returned home to Canada.
2003 - California governor Gray Davis is recalled and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
2004 - King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicates.
[edit] Births
1471 - King Frederick I of Denmark and Norway (d. 1533)
1573 - William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1645)
1576 - John Marston, English writer (d. 1634)
1713 - Granville Elliott, British military officer (d. 1759)
1728 - Caesar Rodney, American lawyer (d. 1784)
1744 - Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman (d. 1819)
1748 - King Charles XIII of Sweden (d. 1818)
1769 - Solomon Sibley, American politician (d. 1846)
1786 - Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1871)
1835 - Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
1841 - King Nicholas I of Montenegro (d. 1921)
1849 - James Whitcomb Riley, American poet (d. 1916)
1866 - Wlodimir Ledochowski, Polish-Austrian director of the Society of Jesus (d. 1942)
1881 - Mikhail Drozdovsky, Russian general (d. 1918)
1885 - Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d.1962)
1888 - Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States (d. 1965)
1892 - Dwain Esper, director (d. 1982)
1894 - Del Lord, American director (d. 1970)
1897 - Elijah Muhammad, American Black Muslim leader (d. 1975)
1900 - Heinrich Himmler, Nazi official (d. 1945)
1905 - Andy Devine, American actor (d. 1977)
1907 - Víctor Paz Estenssoro, President of Bolivia (d. 2001)
1910 - Henry P. McIlhenny, American philanthropist (d. 1986)
1911 - Vaughn Monroe, American singer (d. 1973)
1911 - Shura Cherkassky, Ukrainian classical pianist (d. 1995)
1912 - Fernando Belaúnde Terry, President of Peru (d. 2002)
1913 - Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and writer (d. 1987)
1914 - Alfred Drake, American actor (d. 1992)
1914 - Sarah Churchill, British actress (d. 1982)
1917 - June Allyson, American actress (d. 2006)
1919 - Sir Zelman Cowen, Australian politician
1921 - Raymond Goethals, Belgian football coach (d. 2004)
1922 - Grady Hatton, American baseball player
1923 - Jean-Paul Riopelle, Québécois member of Les Automatistes (d. 2002)
1923 - Irma Grese, Supervisor at Nazi concentration camps
1926 - Diana Lynn, American actress (d. 1971)
1927 - R. D. Laing, Scottish psychologist (d. 1989)
1927 - Al Martino, American singer and actor
1928 - Sohrab Sepehri, Persian poet and painter (d. 1980)
1929 - Robert Westall, British author (d. 1993)
1931 - Cotton Fitzsimmons, American basketball coach (d. 2004)
1931 - Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate
1934 - Ulrike Meinhof, German terrorist (d. 1976)
1935 - Thomas Keneally, Australian author
1936 - Charles Dutoit, Swiss conductor
1937 - Maria Szyszkowska, Polish politician
1939 - John Hopcroft, American computer scientist
1939 - Clive James, Australian TV presenter and writer
1939 - Harold Kroto, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1939 - Bill Snyder, American football coach
1940 - Bruce Vento, U.S. Congressman from Minnesota (d. 2000)
1943 - Joy Behar, American co-host of The View
1943 - José Cardenal, Cuban baseball player
1943 - Oliver North, U.S. Marine and politician
1944 - Judee Sill, American musician (d. 1979)
1944 - Donald Tsang, current Chief executive of Hong Kong
1945 - Kevin Godley, British musician (10cc)
1946 - Bernard Lavilliers, French singer
1946 - Pengiran Anak Saleha, Queen of Brunei
1948 - Diane Ackerman, American poet and essayist
1949 - Dave Hope, American musician (Kansas)
1950 - Jakaya Kikwete, Tanzanian politician
1951 - John Mellencamp, American singer
1951 - David J. Halberstam, American radio executive
1952 - Mary Badham, American actress
1952 - Vladimir Putin, Russian politician
1952 - Jacques Richard, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2002)
1952 - Graham Yallop, Australian cricketer
1953 - Tico Torres, Drummer (Bon Jovi)
1954 - Kenneth Atchley, American composer
1955 - Yo-Yo Ma, French-born cellist
1957 - Michael W. Smith, American singer
1957 - Jayne Torvill, British figure skater
1959 - Dylan Baker, American character actor
1959 - Simon Cowell, English recording executive
1959 - Lourdes Flores, Peruvian politician
1959 - Jean-Marc Fournier, French-Canadian politician
1960 - Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
1960 - Viktor Lazlo, Belgian singer
1961 - Matthew Roloff, American actor and reality star
1962 - Dave Bronconnier, Canadian politician
1965 - Genji Hashimoto, Japanese racing driver
1966 - Toni Braxton, American singer
1968 - Thom Yorke, English singer (Radiohead)
1969 - Malia Hosaka, Hawaiian professional wrestler
1969 - Javier Álvarez, Spanish singer-songwriter
1971 - Daniel Boucher, Quebecois musician
1973 - Dida, Brazilian footballer
1973 - Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer
1974 - Charlotte Nilsson, Swedish singer
1975 - Terry Gerin, American professional wrestler
1975 - Damian Kulash, American musician (OK Go)
1976 - Taylor Hicks, American musician
1976 - Rachel McAdams, Canadian actress
1976 - Santiago Solari, Argentinian footballer
1976 - Gilberto Silva, Brazilian footballer
1976 - Charles Woodson, American football player
1977 - Meighan Desmond, New Zealand actress
1978 - Alesha Dixon, British pop singer (Mis-Teeq)
1978 - Lee Grossfeld, Inuit Rocket Scientist
1978 - Zaheer Khan, Indian cricketer
1979 - Simona Amânar, Romanian gymnast
1979 - Aaron Ashmore, Canadian actor
1979 - Shawn Ashmore, Canadian actor
1979 - Susan Eldridge, American supermodel
1980 - Edison Chen, Canadian-born actor
1982 - Jermain Defoe, English footballer
1982 - Robby Ginepri, American tennis player
1984 - Ikuta Toma, Japanese Singer/Actor
1986 - Gunnar Nielsen, Faroese footballer
1987 - Jeremy Brockie, Australian footballer
1988 - Stacy DuPree, American musician (Eisley)
[edit] Deaths
336 - Pope Mark
929 - Charles the Simple, King of France (b. 879)
1368 - Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of Edward III of England (b. 1338)
1553 - Cristóbal de Morales, Spanish composer (bc. 1500)
1555 - Louis of Praet, Habsburg diplomat (b. 1488)
1577 - George Gascoigne, English poet
1612 - Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat, (b. 1538)
1620 - Stanis--aw --ó--kiewski, Polish military leader (b. 1547)
1637 - Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy (b. 1587)
1651 - Jacques Sirmond, French Jesuit scholar (b. 1559)
1653 - Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest (b. 1581)
1708 - Guru Gobind Singh, tenth Sikh Guru (b. 1666)
1772 - John Woolman, American Quaker preacher and abolitionist (b. 1720)
1787 - Henry Muhlenberg, German-born founder of the U.S. Lutheran Church (b. 1711)
1792 - George Mason, American patriot (b. 1725)
1793 - Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire, English politician (b. 1718)
1796 - Thomas Reid, Scottish philosopher (b. 1710)
1849 - Edgar Allan Poe, American writer (b. 1809)
1894 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, American writer (b. 1809)
1903 - Rudolf Lipschitz, German mathematician (b. 1832)
1906 - Honoré Beaugrand, Canadian journalist and politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1848)
1911 - John Hughlings Jackson, English neurologist (b. 1835)
1919 - Alfred Deakin, second Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1856)
1925 - Christy Mathewson, American baseball player (b. 1880)
1926 - Emil Kraepelin, German psychologist (b. 1856)
1943 - Eugeniusz Bodo, Polish actor (b. 1899)
1943 - Radclyffe Hall, British author (b. 1880)
1956 - Clarence Birdseye, American inventor (b. 1886)
1959 - Mario Lanza, American tenor (b. 1921)
1967 - Norman Angell, British politician and Nobel Laureate (b. 1872)
1969 - Léon Scieur, Belgian cyclist (b. 1888)
1981 - Albert Cohen, Greek-born Swiss novelist (b. 1895)
1991 - Leo Durocher, American baseball player and manager (b. 1905)
1992 - Allan Bloom, American philosopher and educator (b. 1930)
1992 - Tevfik Esenç, last known speaker of Ubykh (b. 1904)
1993 - Cyril Cusack, Irish actor (b. 1910)
1994 - Niels Kaj Jerne, English-born Danish immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1911)
1996 - Grigoris Asikis, Greek singer and songwriter (b. 1890)
1998 - Arnold Jacobs, American tuba player a.k.a. Song and Wind (b. 1915)
2001 - Christopher Adams, British-born pro wrestler and judoka (b. 1955)
2001 - Herblock, American cartoonist (b. 1909)
2001 - Roger Gaudry, French Canadian chemist, businessman and corporate director (b. 1913)
2003 - Izzy Asper, Canadian tax lawyer (b. 1932)
2003 - Wally George, American conservative TV commentator (b. 1931)
2004 - Ken Bigley, British civil engineer, kidnapped and murdered in Iraq (b. 1942)
2005 - Charles Rocket, American actor (b. 1949)
2006 - Anna Politkovskaya, Russian journalist (b. 1958)
[edit] Holidays and observances
RC Saints - Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary; formerly Saint Justina, Saint Osyth
Feast day of Pope Mark.
Saints Sergius and Bacchus; also see October 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
East Germany - Republic Day
French Republican Calendar - Belle de nuit (Beautiful of Night, a flower) Day, sixteenth day in the Month of Vendémiaire
Brazil - Composer Day
1994
More than 60,000 Iraqi troops begin a '10 day deployment ' in Southern Iraq near its border with Kuwait.
1988
The launch of an international rescue mission after several grey whales are discovered trapped under the ice in Alaska.
1986
The publication of the first edition of a new British daily newspaper, 'The Independent'.
1959
Russian spacecraft 'Lunik III' takes the first pictures of the far side of the moon.
1949
Formation of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
1946
On British radio, the first transmission of 'Woman's Hour '- a daily programme of music, advice and entertainment for those in the home. The first regular presenter is Joan Griffiths. The programme also broadcasts the first episode of the thriller serial 'Dick Barton, Special Agent'.
1940
During World War II, German troops occupy Romania.
1932
The London Philharmonic Orchestra gives its first concert at the Queen's Hall in London with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting.
1922
In Britain, the Prince of Wales makes the first royal broadcast - on 2LO -11 days before the broadcaster changes its name to the British Broadcasting Company (BBC).
1920
For the first time, Oxford University in England admits women for full degrees.
1919
Founding of the Dutch airline KLM - the oldest existing airline.
1908
The Meditteranean island of Crete proclaims its union with Greece.
1871
In the United States, at least 250 are killed in the Great Chicago Fire thought to have started in a barn when a cow upset a lantern. The fire burns for almost 5 days.
1806
English inventor Ralph Wedgwood patents his 'carbon paper' invention.
1799
The ship's bell is salvaged from the wreck of the 'Lutine' which sank off the coast of Holland. It is later presented to shipping insurers Lloyds of London. The Lutine Bell, has been rung ever since to mark a marine disaster.
1571
The Battle of Lepanto. Christian allied naval forces defeat the Ottoman Turks.
1957
World ice-dance champion Jayne Torvill born in Nottingham, England. With ice skating partner Christopher Dean, she becomes British Champion; European Champion and World Champion (1981-1984). Winner of an Olympic Gold medal in 1984.
1955
British Olympic athlete Steve Ovett is born in Brighton. Gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympics and three times world record holder at 1500 metres. Ovett and fellow British athlete and rival Sebastian Coe, dominate international middle distance running in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
1938
British tennis player Ann Jones. Popular winner of the women's singles at Wimbledon in 1967 - a rare English success in the year of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee.
1931
Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu. Becomes a leading member of the anti-Apartheid and civil rights movement in South Africa during the 1970s and 1980s and a supporter of international sanctions against South Africa. Is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. Appointed chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission following the lection of Nelson Mandela as South Africa's first black President.
1924
American actress June Allyson - real name Ella Geisman.
1906
US space expert James Webb. Is head of NASA between 1961-1968 and supervises the Apollo programme which culminates in man landing on the moon (Neil Armstrong).
1903
British archaeologist Louis Leakey born in Kenya. Grows up with the Kikuyu tribe before an English education at Cambridge. Takes part in several archaeological expeditions in East Africa and spends much of his life studying the origins of African tribes and excavating fossils - some more than a million years old. Dies in 1972.
1900
Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler born in Munich. Appointed head of Adolf Hitler's notorious SS in 1929 and responsible for the murders of senior Nazi officials opposed to Hitler during the 1930s.As head of the Gestapo (secret police) Himmler carries out the systematic deportation, torture, and execution of European Jews and enemies of Hitler's Germany before and during World War II. Is captured by British troops in 1945 but commits suicide with a cyanide pill before being brought to trial as a war criminal.
1998
British actor Marius Goring, dies of cancer aged 86.
1955
American actor James Byron Dean dies in a car crash aged 24. Became an overnight success in the 1955 film 'East of Eden' which was followed several months by 'Rebel Without a Cause' and finally 'Giant', which was released shortly after his death.
1772
English engineer James Brindley aged 56. One of the leading canal builders in Britain during the Industrial Revolution - constructing a total of 365 miles of inland waterways - especially around urban connurbations such as Manchester and Birmingham.